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LOT 1520
Luristan Socketted Bronze Axe Head Sar-e Tabar
CIRCA 2200-1600 B.C.
4 1/8 in. (308 grams, 10.6 cm).
Comprising a wide curving blade and long neck with a band of herringbone decoration at the base, tubular neck with claw-like extension to the rear and a decorative diagonal band to both sides.
ProvenanceAcquired on the Swiss art market, 1997.
Private collection, Europe.
Cf. Gorelik, M., Weapons of Ancient East, IV millennium BC-IV century BC, Saint Petersburg, 2003, pl.XXI, nos.51,67, for the type; Khorasani, M.M., Arms and Armour from Iran. The Bronze Age to the End of the Qajar Period, Tübingen, 2006, cat.344, for similar.
FootnotesSimilar examples of axeheads were produced in Luristan, and early parallels date back to 2200 B.C. They have moulding bands at the base, and the shaft is often crosshatched, showing different lozenge-shaped figures.
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LOT 1520
Luristan Socketted Bronze Axe Head Sar-e Tabar
Estimate £500 - 700€580 - 810 (for guidance only)$680 - 950 (for guidance only)
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Large Luristan Bronze Adze
Bronze Age, 2nd-1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
Short tubular socket with raised ribs, perpendicular rectangular-section blade with convex cutting edge. 462 grams, 16.5 cm
From a UK collection formed in the 1980s. Property of an Essex, UK, gentleman.
Unadorned weapons, especially axes, adzes, and picks, were made by Luristan craftsmen using simple clay or stone bivalve moulds, into which a core was inserted to form the socket for the shaft. Typically, the metallic composition consisted of a combination of arsenical bronze and copper, together with a small percentage of lead. -
Indo-Persian Inlaid Iron Talwar with Scabbard
Early-mid 20th century A.D.Estimate: £400 - 600 (+bp*)
Current Winning Bid: £300
Comprising a curved damascened steel blade, hilt with horse-head pommel, knuckle-guard and stub quilolons; scabbard with two suspension points, inlaid white-metal detailing. 823 grams, 64 cm
Private collection, UK.
This is an example of a saber mass-produced for tourists at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. This is evidenced by the carelessly executed decoration of the engraved ornament covering the main part of the scabbard, as well as the inferior technique of decorating the hilt. However, it is a solid replica of the swords used in real combat. -
Medieval Iron Hand-and-Half Sword
14th-15th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £2,340
Longsword of Oakeshott's Type XVIIIa or b, comprising: two-edged, slender lenticular-section piled blade with taper overall to a narrow point; quillons square in section with taper and slight droop to ends; flat-section tang tapering to the upper end; pommel of Oakshott's Type I1 with scooped border to each face, central panel. 873 grams, 99.5 cm
From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D'Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13302-257654.
Examples of this category of swords show almost every kind of hilt used during the 15th century, from the classic forms of the 13th century to all the new varieties of pommel and cross which developed after 1400. Because the previous types of swords were practically useless against the fully armoured man-at-arms, Western European warfare needed a sword able to pierce the weak points of the protective equipment, a circumstance that led to the creation of types XV, XVI and XVII that found their quintessence in the type XVIII. The subtypes XVIIIa and XVIIIb had longer blades, and especially the type XVIIIb was a very long-gripped bastard sword.